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Words

Introduction

Welcome to the purely literary/typographical side of my website! Here you'll find all the text-related things: stuff I've written, books I've read, interesting quotes and excerpts, etc.

I originally hit upon the idea of making this site in late 2020, partly as a place to upload photos and partly as a way of re-learning HTML and CSS. Starting a blog was never part of the plan, but in the spirit of multimedia I've decided to include this text-based section as a way of balancing things out. I enjoy reading and writing, and hopefully this section will eventually fill up with more content, but for now it's mostly a placeholder.

Writings

Things I have written. I'm not entirely sure what will appear in this section right now, but you can assume it will get some attention sooner or later. Just don't hold your breath.

Books Recieved: 2020

A list of more or less everything I read this past year, as well as my personal recommendation and some comments. I tend to rate books based on my gut reaction rather than any kind of logical system. I'm also a pretty slow reader. Books appear in this table in the order in which I read them, although I'll try to put audiobooks and the like near the end. I like audiobooks a lot, and in some cases a good narrator can really improve the quality of a story, but they don't engage your brain the way a good printed book does and because of that I tend to categorize them differently. Also, it's worth repeating that these recommendations are just my personal opinion. Your mileage may vary!

Title Author Recommendation
The Force of Destiny Christopher Duggan Wouldn't recommend, too unfocused.
The Golden Age John C. Wright Wouldn't recommend, just didn't like it.
The Phoenix Exultant John C. Wright Wouldn't recommend, see above.
Collected Fictions Jorge Luis Borges Highly recommended, personal favorite.
The Death of Woman Wang Jonathan Spence Wouldn't recommend, copies too much from Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.
One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez Highly recommended, absolutely lives up to the hype.
From Dawn to Decadence Jacques Barzun Depends, lots of great book recs inside but suffers from grumpy old man syndrome.
Beasts, Men and Gods Ferdinand Ossendowski Would recommend, fascinating (mostly) true story.
The Life of the Bee Maurice Maeterlinck Depends, rambling but interesting prose style you don't normally seen in nonfiction.
The Waning of the Middle Ages Johan Huizinga Highly recommended, personal favorite.
Gargantua and Pantagruel Francois Rabelais Would recommend, the Urquhart translation can be tough.
Laurus Eugene Vodolazkin Depends, probably loses something in translation.
Flatland Edwin Abbott Would recommend, not as mathematical as you might think.
In Search of Adam Herbert Wendt Wouldn't recommend, unfocused and outdated.
Vineland Thomas Pynchon Depends, not Pynchon's best but still a fun read.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Phillip K. Dick Would recommend, very different from the movie.
Aubrey-Maturin Series (Audiobooks) Patrick O'Brian Would recommend, Patrick Tull is a fantastic narrator.

Expect a link to an archive of past books to appear here once this site has been up for over a year.

Quotes

Quotes and other short pieces of text I like, presented in no particular order: